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W. E. ELAM, R. S. THOMAS & S. W. HARDWIOK. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED COTTON.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

No. 453,551. v Patented June 2, 1891 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. E. ELAM, R. S. THOMAS 82; S. W. HARDWIGK. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND GLEANING SEED COTTON.

No. 453,551. Patented June 2,1891.

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W. E. ELAM, R. S. THOMAS & S.

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WW A A A w A UNITED STATES PATENT QFEEQE- WILLIAM E. ELAM, ROBERT s. THOMAS, Ami SAUNIE w. HARDWICK, or

. DALLAS,

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND GLEANING SEED-COTTQN.

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SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 53,551, dated June 2, 1891. Applicution filed August 12, 1890. Serial Ho. 361,80. 1N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.- 7

- Be it known that we, W'ILLIAM E. ELAM,

-ROBERT S. THOMAS, and SAUNIE W.IIA1 .D-

WICK, citizens of the United States, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and usetion.

Our invention is in devices for conveying cotton through a pneumatic tube and for antomatically delivering therefrom to each of a. series of gins an amount of cleaned cotton graduated at all times to the need of each gin. The flow of the main current in the tube is not interrupted by the several subtractions.

The invention is fully shownin the accompanying drawings, in which--- v Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the whole apparatus. Fig. 2 is a lan of the same. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detai views.

The devices for supplying each gin except the last of the series beingidentical with those for the other gins, it is ouly necessery to describethem'echanism connected with the first and the lastgins'.

In the drawings, A A are the iioor and walls of a building, and.]3 B B" are gins therein driven by belts B"from a powershaft 0 beneath the floor. Upon thegins rest feedersDD,a-.:-" atsome distance abovethese is a suitably-supported sectional cotton-conveying tube E, in which an air-current is produced by any exhaust mechanism.- (Illustrated as afan F.) The fan is driven from the power-shaft through ordinary speed-increasing devices, and from it leads a discharge-pipe F, preferably passing out of the building. The opposite end of the tube passes through the Wall of the building and has attached a pendent section capable of universal motion and adapted to take cotton from a wagon or other source of supply, as fully shown in our patent, No. 414,7fi2 For convenience the tube is made in sections that slip together after the manner of stove-pipe,

and these when joined form a continuous pipe having lateral chambers or pocketsone in each section-into which the desired amount of cotton is diverted by devices to be described and from which it is transferred to the respective gins. The chambers are shown as boxes G, secured to the lower side of the tubesections,with which they freelycommunicate,

the lower side of the tube being cut away at these points. The bottoms of the boxes are cut away at one end to form a passage to the feeders directly below. The passage is closed bye. short endless conveyer H, running upon drums H, driven by a chain belt H", and provided with wings Hf", adapted to carry the cotton along with thebelt and drop it into the feeder. Both box and conveyor are provided with the usual elastic flaps H to prevent the ingress of air from below. The current in the tube moves in the direction of the arrow, and as it approaches the opening into the box it passes over a deflecting-board I, lying uponand hinged at I to the bottom of the tube and projecting some distance over the edge of the opening. At the opposite side of the opening is hinged a second deflectingboard I, that projects toward the first and is fixed at any desired angle with theplane of the bottom of the tube by means of a hand-wheel i", fixed to'the end of its pivotal rbd which projects beyond the tube-wall, the rod being held against accidental displacement by friction in its bearings or by other well-known means. Evidently, if the board I be raised above a horizontal plane it deflects into the chamber a portion of the current, increasing with its angle, and, as plainly seen, raising the board I deflects the current upward and tends to throw the cotton carried thereby beyond the opening. By varying the inclination of these two noneor a large part of the current may be intercepted, and practically it is found that suflicient change is made by setting the board I at a small angle and varying the other only The former therefore arranged to be set by hand and the latter is so connected with devices to be described that the accumulation of cotton-in the feeder automatically raises it and thus diminishes the supply. A pipeJ passes out from the side of .the box and returning enters the tube above.

, no practical moment. The pipe may be placed,

as shown, nearly vertical, so that any cotton in the pipe when the machine stops may fall back into the box; but this is not-essential, for such cotton, if it does not fall, is removed by the current when the machine is put again in operation. So, too, the pipe may be inclined in the opposite direction and may open into the tube at a much greater distance from its origin. It is to be observed that no expansion-chamber is used or needed and that the cotton is not removed from the tube by gravity, but is thrown directly upon the removingconveyer by the positive directing'action of the blast.

In the plane of the bottom of the. tube E and beneath the end of the board I is aboard K, hinged at one edge. At one side of the hinge-axis is-hinged the end of a rod K, which extends downward and has its opposite end pivotally connected to the end of a crank-arm K rigidly secured to a rock-shaftL, mounted in suitable bearings upon the gin -feeder. Boards M are rigidly fixed to the rock-shaft to extend vertically into the feeder in position to be swung backward by the accumulating cotton whenever it enters faster than it can be removed by the gin. Such swinging raises the crank-arm, and this motion transmitted through the rod K rotates the board K and elevates the free end of the deflectingboard I with the result already set forth, all or nearly all the cotton carried in the tube passing on to the next gin. Meantime the gin, which' works continuously, is removing the accumulation in the feeder, and as this diminishes the boards M fall toward their normal position, and with them the deflector I.

As soon as this occurs cotton is delivered as.

at first.

The apparatus described may be duplicated if there are more than two gins; but in any case the apparatus connected with the gin nearest the fan should be provided with devices to prevent the cotton from passing to the fan if there chance to be'any surplus after all the gins are supplied. For this gin, then,we use an entirely different apparatus. A wheel 3, having peripheral pockets formed by the two parallel wire-cloth faces N of the wheel and imperforate radial partitions O, extending between the faces,is inserted from below and fills the tube from 'side to side, though there is an open space above, the top of the tube being preferably carried upward at this point, so that cotton projecting from the pockets may pass along with little friction till it meets the flaps 6. A casing 4, continuous with the tube-walls, incloses that portion of the wheel below the body of the tube and supports the axle; but the lower part of the curved portion of the casing is removed to permit the exit of cotton. The'plane faces of the wheel are provided with strips P, of cloth, rubber, or the like, along the edges of the partitions, in order that the wheel may fit the tube closely even if the latter be slightly variable. The peripheral edges of the partitions are provided with elastic flaps 5, that upon oneside of the wheel sweep over the curved inner surface of the casing and upon the other co-operate with corresponding flaps 6, fixed upon the casing to exclude the air, that might otherwise pass around the wheel and enter the tube. The casing extends across the interior of the tube upon the side nearest the fan, completely cutting 0d the current, which all enters the pockets in the wheel, passes through the screens and through two pipes 7, that leave the tube upon opposite sides of the wheel and return to it at a point between the casing and the fan. The cotton coming to this wheel is therefore all deposited in the wheel, while the dust is carried on to the fan and discharged through the pipe F. The wheel is slowly rotated bya chain belt 8, actuated from the main power-shaft through ordinary speed-reducing devices, and, as it rotates, the pockets are successively brought opposite the opening in the casing and emptied by gravitg, the cotton falling normally directly into the gin-feeder below. Were the feed invariably just fast enough to supply the gin, nothing further would be required; but as such is not the case other devices are needed. This feeder is therefore provided with the same rock-shaft and dependent boards that have been already described, and upon it rests a conveyertrough 9, in which travels an endless-belt conveyer 10, driven by a belt 11 from the screen-wheel shaft above. This conveyer projects beyond the gin and discharges immediately over the open end of an overflowpipe 12, that communicates through a valved opening 20 with the main tube E at a point near the opposite end of the apparatus. The other end of the conveyer lies adjacent to the path of the cotton falling from the wheel to the feeder, but does notprojectinto that path, and so normally receives no cotton, though it runs continuously. Upon the opposite side of that path is a vertical board 13, rigidly fixed by its upper edge to a rock-shaft 14, mounted upon or in the side walls of the trough, they projecting beyond the bottom. A rigid arm 15 projects horizontally from the shaft 14, and its free end is connected by a rod 16 with the corresponding end of an arm 17 upon the rock-shaft L below. It follows that when the boards depending from the rock-shaft L into the feeder are swung backward by the accumulating cotton in the manner already described both shafts are rocked, and the board 13 swings obliquely across the path of the falling cotton and deflects it to the conveyer,which deposits it at the mouth of the overflow-pipe l2,whence it is returned to the tube E whenever the valves are turned in the proper manner.

that we claim is- 1. The combination, with a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube having a lateral pocket, of means for deflecting into said pocket a portion of the cotton passing in the tube without interrupting the flow of the remainder.

2. The combination, with a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube having a lateral pocket, of means for deflecting passing cotton from the tube into the pocket, and a pipe leading out from the pocket and returning into the tube,whereby the current in the tube creates a lesser current in the pipe, thus preventing the air from cushioning and eddying in the pocket.

3. The combination, with a gin and afeeder resting thereon, of a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube provided with alateral pocket and with adjustable mechanism for diverting passing cotton from the tube into the pocket, and devices operated by pressure of cotton accumulated in the feeder to diminish the amount of cotton received by said diverting mechanism.

a. The combination,with a series of gins and feeders resting upon the gins, of a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube provided with lateral pockets corresponding in position with the gins and with adjustable mechanism adapted to deflect into the pockets, respectively, cotton passingin the tube, means for transferring the cotton caught in each pocket to the corresponding feeder, means whereby the pressure of cotton accumulated in each feeder may graduate the amount of cotton received by the corresponding deflecting mechanism, and means for arresting and removing laterally 6. The combination,with the cotton-convey- 7 ing pneumatic tube provided with lateral pockets and with means for deflecting into each a part of the cotton passing in the tube, of the cotton-removing conveyer closing, respectively, the external openings from said pockets.

7. The combination,with the cotton-conveying pneumatic tube provided with a series of lateral pockets and with means for deflecting into each a part of the passing cotton, of a screen-wheel constructed substantially as set forth and placed in the tube in position to intercept all cotton that may pass the pockets, and pipes leading from the tube at the screen sides of the wheel and returning into the tube at points beyond the wheel, whereby the air-current and dust from the arrested cotton may pass on to be discharged elsewhere.

8. The combination, with the gins, the feeders, the pneumatic tube, and devices for dropping cotton from the tube into each feeder, of the conveyer above the last feeder of the series and alongside the path of the cotton dropping into it, and means whereby the pressure of cotton in said feeder may deflect the falling cotton and throw it upon said conveyer so long as the pressure continues.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

XV. E. ELAM.

R. S. THOMAS.

S. W. HARDWIGK.

Witnesses: I

J. R. PIERCE, BEN. H. BRooKs. 

